Some “Geology and/or Geophysics” (G&G) applications provide a “full-screen mode,” which enables data views to use the entire screen to view the data. However, there are no examples in the prior art of a G&G application that allows a user to perform operations on the data and view the results of the operation on the data without switching back and forth between the full-screen and non-full-screen mode. This can be a tedious way of working, and can significantly reduce the value of a full-screen mode because it could draw a user's attention away from visualization of the data.
One purpose of a G&G software application is to allow users to visualize, manipulate, and/or perform operations on G&G data. As an example, a G&G application running on a workstation may include a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI may include one or more graphical data views coupled with support controls (e.g., toolbars, data trees and operation trees). The support controls may provide a way of performing operations on the data and selecting data to display in a data view.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a GUI 100 provided by the PETREL® software application, which is a product of Schlumberger (PETREL®). The GUI 100 may include a data view 110, and one or more support control 120a-f which surround the data views.
The support controls 120a-f may include one or more GUI elements that enable a user to activate functionality provided by the G&G application. The support controls 120a-f shown in GUI 100 are merely examples—other support controls are also possible. The GUI 100 may be referred to herein as a “non-immersive” GUI.
As shown in FIG. 1, the data view 110 of the non-immersive GUI occupy only a portion of the computer screen due to the presence of the support controls 120a-f. A non-immersive GUI can present one or more of the following disadvantages:
1. The support controls 120a-f occupy an increasing amount of screen space, which may direct user attention away from the data view 110. In certain use cases, the data view 110 is the most important part of the application.
2. The support controls 120a-f may be complicated with respect to navigation because of the number of buttons and options. This could increase the risk of the user acquiring repetitive strain injury (RSI) due to increased mouse usage. For example, these interfaces might involve a large number of mouse clicks to perform certain operations. Advanced workflows can further increase the risk of RSI, because advanced workflows may require adding more support controls 120a-f to the GUI 100.
3. A non-immersive GUI 100 might not be optimized for touch-screen based technologies. For example, the screen space allocated for each support control 120a-f may be comparatively small when reproduced on a touch-device. This may make it difficult to activate certain buttons (e.g., via touch). In addition, with a touch-based interface, the user's hand may block visibility of the data view 110.
4. A non-immersive GUI 100 might implement “non-interactive workflows,” wherein the GUI 100 requires the user to manually trigger a data view 110 update when, for example, the user changes one or more parameters related to an algorithm performing a computation over the data. This can lead to decreased user productivity.
5. A non-immersive GUI 100 might use support controls 120a-f, such as non-transparent and/or “heavy-weight dialogs” for interactive workflows. Such non-transparent and/or “heavy-weight dialogs” support controls 120a-f could block users' views of the data view 110. The term “heavy-weight dialog” may refer to a dialog in which the data view is not automatically updated after changes are made (i.e., the user has to manually trigger an event to update the view, for instance, by pressing an “Apply” button or something similar).
6. A non-immersive GUI 100 might not differentiate between operations which are frequently performed versus operations which are seldom used. In addition, a non-immersive GUI 100 might use limited assumptions (e.g., no assumptions) as to what a user needs at a particular step in a workflow. Since no context information about what the user is used, or is being used in a limited way, a non-immersive GUI 100 might need to show all options at all times. This can lead to a complicated GUI 100.
Accordingly there is a need for an immersive interface which allows the user to work more efficiently by using as much screen estate as possible to show data, and thereby avoid blocking the data views as much as possible. Such an immersive interface may have a simple and intuitive interface which is far smarter than traditional interfaces about how the user works, thereby using interactive workflows to the largest extent possible, and supporting new touch-screen technologies.